The Agafay stone desert is located just under an hour outside of Marrakesh in a south-easterly direction with a view of the High Atlas. Even if it doesn’t have the impressive sand dunes of the Ergs south of the Atlas, the wasteland with its view of the often snow-covered mountains is well worth a visit.
An overnight stay in one of the camps is a special experience, but a sunset dinner followed by a return to Marrakesh is also highly recommended.
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If you are spending more than 3 days in Marrakesh and have not planned a round trip to the sand deserts in the south of Morocco, you should definitely plan an day-trip here. You can get a good overview of the offers in advance via our partner Getyourguide: Sunset in the Agafay Desert*.
Out of the city for dinner
There’s an old saying that you’re spoiled for choice. So it is with the choice of dinner options in Marrakesh. In addition to historic restaurants in charming, time-honored courtyards with orange trees and palm trees, there are dreamy restaurants on the rooftop terraces high above the medina. Competing with them are the kitchens of the riads, where excellent menus are prepared in the traditional way. The new town, on the other hand, offers a wide range of stylish restaurants with cuisines from all over the world and in all price categories.
And yet it is worth looking beyond Marrakesh.
Just a few kilometers beyond the city limits, where people can no longer wrest olive and orange groves from the rocky ground, the stone desert of Agafay begins.
Agafay rises from the plain as a gentle hilltop, dominated by reddish-yellow rock and sand.
During the day, the heat shimmers over the stones and blurs the horizon.
The sunset here is a very special spectacle in its own right.
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The camps at the foot of the High Atlas
Arranged like a silhouette, the view from east to south rests on the ever higher mountain ranges of the foothills, which are finally bordered by the passes and peaks of the High Atlas rising to over 4,000 meters. Until well into early summer, these peaks with their snow-covered slopes reflect the light of the sun burning up on the western horizon in a special way.
To the north, the soft bare hilltops of other hills can be seen, while to the west the sun seems to sink into the foothills of the Agafay cliffs.
During the day, the stone desert itself appears empty and barren at first glance.
The narrow asphalt road winds like a snake between the rocky mountain peaks and leads seemingly to nowhere. Now and again, lonely signposts with bold names such as Scarabeo Camp, Canyon Lodge or Oxygen Camp Lodge appear out of this nothingness. If the eye follows the indicated direction and the dusty track, the view is once again lost in nothingness. From time to time, plumes of dust on the horizon show that this road is actually being used.
The appearance of desolation is deceptive, as camps with surprisingly luxurious facilities await visitors at the end of the dusty and seemingly endless slopes.
Tents are lined up along the hilltop with the best views of the surrounding countryside, offering everything from simple rooms to luxury rooms.
Behind the tents, the clear water of a pool sparkles in the sunlight on a plateau, framed by a panorama bar. A little further away and with a feeling for the beautiful view, there is a beautifully furnished tent for the evening dinner.
It is a spectacular experience to sit by the pool and soak up the light, the wind and the magnificent scenery with a glass of wine.
Every second, the sun changes the colors in the sky and the surrounding mountains from sun-bright to purple-red to the pale blue of the first foothills of the night.
The heat of the day gives way to the pleasant coolness of the night.
After the spectacular display of colors, you can enjoy a multi-course dinner with original Moroccan dishes. As darkness falls, torches and fires are lit. The darker it gets, the more the camp transforms into a magical African place, where shadows dance across the tent walls and strange sounds whirl in the air. As dark companions, the mountains constantly watch over the horizon, while a breathtaking starry sky stretches from left to right above the heads of visitors.
The evening ends sitting by one of the fires, the air carrying the sounds of drums and bells from a little further away. With a drink in your hand, friends and good company engrossed in conversation, spanned by a sea of a thousand twinkling stars — this is the final magic of the Agafay, a combination of experience and Moroccan magic.
An unforgettable memory.
Looking for a hotel in Marrakesh?
The best location in the medina, breakfast included, an oasis of peace in the middle of the souks: the Riad Selouane is the ideal address for your city trip!
Arrangements
An arrangement for a visit to one of the camps is very easy to organize. As in most riads and accommodations, our staff at Riad Selouane will be happy to arrange a booking at the desired camp. For a dinner with activities such as camel rides, it is usually sufficient to book one or two days in advance.
In the city itself, there is an agency for all kinds of excursions in almost every alleyway. They can usually be recognized by colourful pictures of off-road vehicles, camel rides, quads or desert scenes. The excursions can always be booked including arrival and departure.
Some camps pick up guests in Marrakesh by bus and bring them back again. Here you should pay attention to the pick-up location and time.
Payment is usually made immediately, drinks are charged at the end of the camp and must be paid before departure.
A private transfer via your riad has the advantage that the drivers will contact the riad, combined with the service of being accompanied to the pick-up point.
In addition to cash, the camps also accept major credit cards — payment by app is not yet widely available.
The agencies in the city often offer inexpensive packages to the simple 2‑star camps, but the quality of the camps and the food cannot keep up with the luxury camps. However, these prices include everything except drinks and, depending on the offer, even the camel ride or quad biking.
A package for 40 — 50€ per person including food, transfer and pool doesn’t have to be bad, but you should take a close look at the reviews of the camp on a review site such as Tripadvisor beforehand. Unfortunately, conditions change quite quickly, so you should always obtain up-to-date information. For example, this inexpensive excursion with dinner, camel ride and show*gets good reviews.
In the luxury 4‑star camps, the standard is much higher, the quality of the food better and the facilities more stylish. These camps can rarely be booked as a package. You book directly with the camp, plus a private transfer and any activities.
We particularly like the dinner at Inara Camp* and the camps La Pause and White Camel Lodge.
The prices are high, for a dinner you have to calculate over 50€ without drinks, but the atmosphere in these camps is something very special.
There are even private tents for hire for a romantic dinner for two.
You can also visit all the camps during the day and have lunch there. After a camel ride or a quad bike ride, hanging out by the pool before heading back into town in the evening is also a great experience. There are many offers for a Day Pass with pool and lunch*. The luxurious Inara Camp also offers a day pass with lunch*.
Directions to the camp
The organizer usually specifies an exact time and location for pick-up. However, it is advisable to ensure a pick-up time no later than three hours before sunset in Marrakesh. This leaves plenty of time in the camp to see everything before the light of the sun begins to enchant the landscape.
The tour operators usually have meeting points in the area around the Jemaa el Fna. The journey takes place in comfortable and well-maintained off-road vehicles or minibuses. Depending on traffic, the journey takes about an hour.
You can book a private driver via your hotel or in advance with Getyourguide: Transfer to the Agafay Desert*.
If the conversations with the driver actually run out of steam, which is actually out of the question given the sheer endless base of stories and myths about Marrakesh, then sounds from the radio set the rhythm of the journey. If you don’t like Berber music, we recommend the Moroccan hit parade on Hit-Radio Marrakech. Often a copy of the hits known from their homeland — just in Arabic.
With music blaring from the radio, the many construction sites of the incredibly fast-growing city fly past to the left and right of the road. As bleak as the building sites look, large advertising signs announce what will soon be realized here as a new standard of living. And despite all this progress, donkey carts, rickety bicycles and smoking mopeds with up to four people on them are part of the everyday street scene. Just like the olive and orange groves and eucalyptus trees further out, outside the new building areas.
Activities
Many camps offer other activities in addition to dinner.
In addition to private dinners for two in your own tent, larger tents can be booked for groups through to event tents for entire parties and all occasions.
As a rule, day guests are also allowed to use the pool in the camps. It is therefore advisable to pack a towel and swimwear. Towels are only provided as a service in a few camps. Additional charges may apply for use of the pool.
Quad bike rides through the Agafay with views of the city of Marrakesh resting on the plain are at the top of the list of daytime activities.
Each camp also offers the possibility of short or extended camel rides. The camels themselves are extremely patient and gentle animals for the inexperienced rider.
Led by a guide, they walk over sand and stony ground with their soft, large hooves and great surefootedness.
From the slightly swaying saddle, you get another view of the landscape.
Imagine traveling to Timbuktu in this way for 56 days…
In addition to the typical activities, there are also far more unusual offers:
How about exploring the Agafay Desert in a motorcycle sidecar*? Or explore the stony desert on a horseback*? Or with the paraglider over the desert?*
In the evening, the camps offer a variety of spectacles from music and shows with riders and horses to fireworks.
However, as a musician with rattles and drums gives at least one interlude at every dinner and the evening itself conveys so many impressions, you can enjoy Moroccan culture in almost every camp.
Agafay is a real desert: as warm as it was during the day, it can get very cold in the evening, especially in the winter months. A warm jacket against the night-time chill makes you feel more comfortable after dinner as you gaze at the endless sea of stars.
Food and drink in the camp
A peppermint tea is usually served as a welcome to the camp.
In addition to local drinks and fresh juices, many camps also offer Moroccan wines and a selection of spirits. Well-known brands are represented among the soft drinks, for example tonic water. Beer usually comes from a can.
It usually starts with a soup, often a delicious harira.
Then there is a selection of tagine, with lamb or chicken, refined with fruits such as dates and plums. It is served with couscous.
The meals in the camps are divided into three or four courses, traditionally Moroccan, and are served in tents or on seated terraces in front of the tents, depending on your preference and the time of year.
Finally, there is of course a dessert, here the options are very varied and depend on the cuisine of the respective kitchen.
The food is usually accompanied by pleasant background music from an often very rustic music system. The music is interspersed with a live performance between courses. Three or more musicians come from table to table with drums and bells and, in addition to the rhythm and singing, make the pom-poms on their caps spin. It looks easier than it is — but you are welcome to try it out for yourself.
As a typical conclusion to the meal, a mint tea is offered again at the end of the meal with some dry cookies that are customary in the country.
Return to the city
The drivers wait patiently at the entrance to the camp in their off-road vehicles or buses and are often overwhelmed by European punctuality. The motto is: always take your time and enjoy the evening.
The return journey through the darkness makes the route seem completely different. Lights in the desert indicate where there are more camps or where other off-road vehicles are on their way back to Marrakesh.
From time to time, people walk along the road in the dark — their destination seems completely unknown to the observer — there is nothing but wasteland here! When you reach the R212, eucalyptus trees line the road again and suddenly there is life on the road, even late at night. In the light of neon lamps, barbecue stands whiz past the window. Thick clouds of smoke rise from the hot barbecue fires into the darkness. Children run through the night, dogs watch the cars and cyclists perform some daredevil maneuvers.
For the drivers of the camps, this is an everyday occurrence; they know the game as well as most of the passers-by. Every now and then people say hello or sound the horn.
Many riads in the city are located directly in the medina, like the Riad Selouane. As most of the alleyways are too narrow for cars, off-road vehicles or minibuses do not drive right up to the riad. So you still have to walk a little to get to the hotel.
The streets and alleyways of the medina are safe at night, with young men in particular occasionally approaching the tourists. Here it is important to decline politely but firmly.
More caution is needed for orientation! As the traders have dismantled all their stalls and cleared away the lavish displays of goods, every alleyway looks completely different at night than it does during the day.
Many riads therefore consider it part of their service to pick up their guests personally after an evening out and accompany them directly to the riad.
An evening in the Agafay Desert is a very special experience!
Agafay Stone Desert Info
From Marrakesh, there are many opportunities to explore the desert at the foot of the Atlas Mountains.
For an afternoon in Agafay, you should definitely bring sun cream, sunglasses and headgear.
A small tip should be given to both the service in the camp and the driver if they were friendly and attentive.
Looking for more information about Marrakesh?
Visit our travel guide to learn more about the sights of Marrakesh and Morocco!
